17Feb2010
Bo Griffin of GSN Live Passes Away
Very sad news today. I regret to inform you that Bo Griffin, who appeared several times on GSN's live talk/game show GSN Live has died at the age of 51 on Tuesday. She passed away from intestinal cancer. Griffin appeared on other programs like Good Day Live and The Big Reveal on HGTV. She was also a popular southern radio personality. We wish her family and all connected the best through this time.
Read MoreLeave a Comment17Feb2010
“Minute to Win It” Debut Extended to Two Hours on March 14th
Can you feel the excitement?! Minute to Win It has extended its debut show on Sunday, March 14th. Instead of the original hour long show, it'll be expanded to a full two hours, from 7:00PM ET to 9:00PM ET. Why? I wish I had some idea. Last time something like this happened was with Duel on ABC, and they added 30 minutes of filler. This means NBC has an hour of extra material filler to throw in, dragging this out even more. And it's been historically proven, over and over, that if you put this much filler in a show audiences will instantly be turned off. The time slot isn't the greatest thing on earth to begin with either. I don't think handicapping it anymore will help.
Read MoreView Comments (45)16Feb2010
“The Real Housewives” Come to “Millionaire” February 22nd
If you're a fan of the enormously popular Bravo reality franchise The Real Housewives Of New York/New Jersey/Atlanta/Orange County, then you're not going to want to miss Who Wants to be a Millionaire the week of February 22nd. It's The Real Housewives of Millionaire week. Starting on February 22nd cast members from the various Real Housewives varieties will be playing with actual contestant housewives. The contestants can use the cast members for help on any question, but only the contestant can say "Final Answer" and potentially walk away with $1,000,000. The Expert, for the lifeline Ask the Expert, this week will be Andy Cohen. Andy is the host of Watch What Happens Live.
Read MoreView Comments (17)15Feb2010
Rumor: “Pyramid” and Hasbro’s “Catch Phrase” Favorites for CBS Daytime
Starting off the day with a pretty interesting and great rumor today. Our sources are telling us that the search for a new show to replace the canceled CBS soap opera As The World Turns is on, and many game shows are being looked at. In fact, looking at the number of games that are up for it it's looking pretty good that we'll get a third daytime game show, coming off of last year's debut of Let's Make A Deal. Before I list the shows, I just want everyone to clearly know that this obviously isn't confirmed by anyone and is from our incredibly trustworthy sources. The situation, I'm told, is very fluid and things can change easy. This is just what it's looking like in the game show department as of right now and what CBS has been presented.
Read MoreView Comments (172)13Feb2010
Video: Most Expensive’s Makeover
On Friday's couples episode of The Price is Right, we saw two pricing game updates for the first time: the $10,000 sign for Half Off has a new background to match the game, and a brand new set for Most Expensive. I actually seem to like this set change, as it feels more modern, like the show itself. What do you think? [stream provider=youtube flv=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DZEo2W_PDMKg img=x:/img.youtube.com/vi/ZEo2W_PDMKg/0.jpg embed=false share=false width=450 height=253 dock=true controlbar=over bandwidth=high autostart=false /] (scroll to 5:20 for Most Expensive)
Read MoreView Comments (52)12Feb2010
UK “Millionaire” Goes US Style
Depending on how some of our British readers feel about the changes that have occurred to the American version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, we may have a few not-so-happy viewers. Our friends at Bother's Bar have found out that the original British version of the hit quiz show will be changing more this new series. In the past few years they have adopted upgraded graphics, a techno-remix music score, and a new twelve step money chain. Now they are going a bit American with their style.
Read MoreView Comments (50)12Feb2010
Video: “Price is Right” Offers Vintage Thunderbird
I've got a fun video as I search for something newsworthy to blather on about. I've talked about it on the rare occasions it's happened in the past, but the most cool prizes The Price is Right have ever given away are the vintage cars. The show shocked many as it attempted to give another way on Wednesday's show. The car is a 1955 restored Ford Thunderbird. Did the contestant manage to win? Take a look below. Just skip ahead a bit, but there are some funny moments first.
Read MoreView Comments (16)11Feb2010
Report: Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman Has Meetings with GSN
There really are no good words here to describe this situation. It's mindblowing. Radar is reporting that the Octo-Mom Nadya Suleman is having some meetings with GSN. She won't be hosting anything, like Radar assumes, because he assumes GSN is still in the business of game shows. If anything she'll have a Carnie Wilson-like reality show. So instead of going on and on about what an unbelievably stupid idea this is given that the Carnie Wilson show lost viewers across the board and plummeted more in the second week, I'll just link to what Radar wrote and let you vent. I'm almost speechless.
Read MoreView Comments (56)11Feb2010
James Worthy and Bill Walton on “Price is Right” Today
If you're an NBA fan you aren't going to want to miss The Price is Right today on CBS at 11:00AM ET (check local listings). NBA legends James Worthy and Bill Walton will be appear on the show today. They will be helping with the final Showcases, so a great NBA package will be up for grabs.
Read MoreView Comments (6)11Feb2010
Trailers for NBC’s “Minute to Win It”
I know I've been pretty rough on NBC about the fact that Minute to Win It, the network's new game show debuting March 14th at 8:00PM ET, because it resembles a UK series which CBS shot a pilot for. And also frankly everyone who's ever seen the two has said the original UK version blows this one out of the water. But we never fully know until it airs. It could be entertaining. To help you make up your mind a little bit, I've got a few things. The first is a pair of trailers NBC has been showing off for the show. Feels awfully familiar, eh?
Read MoreView Comments (30)10Feb2010
“Family Feud” Launches New Website
Family Feud has finally launched a new website. That only took four years, but at least it was worth it. The site's first update since essentially the start of the John O'Hurley run features some clips of the show from today and the past, surveys to take, updates on the games, and news flashes. It's a cool new site. Check it out.
Read MoreView Comments (3)10Feb2010
Casting Call: “Newlywed Game” and a Twisted “Newlywed Game”
We wrote about this a bit yesterday, but let's put this in the marquis more. There's a casting notice going around for a new show that's a twist on the classic Newlywed Game format. In this version, not only will you and your spouse be competing, but your ex will be involved also. Right now the game is set to have a husband, his current wife, and his ex-wife. It's called Modern Marriage, and they are shooting a pilot soon for network executives. No idea who it's for, but a show like this really is regulated to somewhere on cable. If you want to be involved in it, click here. They are searching for trios currently. They are paying $400 to compete plus other cash prizes for winning the game.
Read MoreView Comments (14)09Feb2010
Ratings Report: “Fifth Grader” Continues to Shine
Time for another ratings update. The headliner this week is surely Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, which was recently renewed for a second season. The show went up 6% to a nice 1.8 rating. One thing to note with this is that this isn't solely the syndication rating. This is factoring in other things, like the MyNetwork airing (which became a programming syndicator this season). When the show first came out the original episodes in syndication-only got around a 1.0 or less. But the show's success has been because of a fantastic marketing plan by Twentieth. I originally scoffed and said airing the show on MyNetwork and CMT would be overkill, but it's brought in a lot of money and kept the show around. Not to mention it is genuinely a fun format. If they can keep up this momentum and actually build anticipation for a second season, which Deal or No Deal chose not to do, this show may run for some time to come.
Read MoreView Comments (12)09Feb2010
Betty White in the Snickers Super Bowl Commercial
So I assume that many of you who were buried under the heavy blanket of snow due to Snowpalooza 2010 (everything ends up high after it) got to watch the Super Bowl. It attracted over 106 million viewers and was the most watched program in television history, so I'm guessing a majority of you saw it. If you did, you may have noticed a certain lady very closely related to the genre in an ad. Betty White, a genre veteran, appeared in a new ad for Snickers which ended up being really funny and one of the few good ads from the entire Super Bowl. Take a look, and congratulations to the Saints. I finally called a team beyond the Steelers to win for a change.
Read MoreView Comments (7)09Feb2010
Casting Call: Married Couples and an Ex
Are you married in the Los Angeles area and have an ex living by? A new game show in the style of The Newlywed Game wants you. The notice says they will square off in a game against each other for a chance at cash and prizes. So...it's basically like the old game show Three's a Crowd then? If you're interested, click here. I'm sure many will be. I'm trying to do a better job of covering casting, so I'll start putting these in the MiniBuzz.
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